Computerworld to end print run on Monday; here’s the first issue from 1967

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Tomorrow will mark the 47th anniversary of the inaugural issue of Computerworld — the first of many publications from International Data Group and an early example of a niche tech publication. Monday will mark its last print issue.

The first issue — above (and below for an enlargeable version) — launched out of Cambridge. It declared: “Considerable interest was raised here today with the announcement of a weekly newspaper for the computer community.”

Computerworld created a model that IDG replicated as new trends in technology emerged over the years — such as with PCWorld in 1983 and Macworld, which debuted the same week as the Macintosh computer in 1984.

Computerworld will continue online.

“It’s sad to lose anything that has endured so long. But we are merely taking part in the natural evolution of the media industry, like so many great publications before us,” editor-in-chief Scot Finnie wrote.

Patrick J. McGovern, the founder of Boston-based IDG and the creator of Computerworld, died in March at the age of 76.

Many who spoke about McGovern after his passing reflected on the importance of his first publication. As the computer industry blossomed in the 1980s, “Computerworld was the bible” for the industry, said George Colony, chief executive of Forrester Research.

Computerworld became indispensable by broadly covering industry trends and product news on the likes of IBM and Microsoft, he said.

“We all read it the moment it came out,” Colony said. “It was the tribal fire of tech.”

Click the image of the issue to enlarge it.

Kyle Alspach has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since 2005 and was one of the original staff writers at BetaBoston.
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